Nasser Hospital Strike: Everyone Condemns, No One Stops It

An Israeli airstrike hit the second floor of the Al-Yasin building at Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis overnight, killing at least six people and wounding dozens more, according to Gaza's Civil Defense. The Health Ministry said the dead included medical personnel, patients and their companions. The surgical and intensive care departments were severely damaged. The UN counted six killed and 27 injured. Médecins Sans Frontières counted 52 wounded.

Among the dead was Rezik Abushira, a surgeon featured in the 2026 documentary "American Doctor," which followed three visiting US physicians treating Palestinians in Gaza. Gaza's Education Ministry said a 13-year-old boy was also killed.

The Military's Version

The Israel Defense Forces said the strike targeted Muhammad Abu Ismail, whom it called a senior commander of Hamas's Khan Younis Brigade, along with two other men it named: Muared Tawfiq Mahmoud Abu Zarifa and Khaled Osama Abu Anza. The IDF said the three were operating from a room inside the hospital compound, that it had warned Hamas repeatedly to halt military activity there, and that it used precision munitions and aerial surveillance to minimize harm to civilians.

On Friday the army went further, claiming Hamas held dozens of hostages at Nasser Hospital during the war and ran a heavily guarded military headquarters on the second floor where civilians were prohibited. It also said the complex was used to store weapons and to interrogate and torture Gazans. It released graphics illustrating the alleged headquarters. It did not immediately confirm whether the three men were dead. Israeli Army Radio, for its part, called the attack an "assassination operation."

Hamas rejected the claim that it used the hospital as a military base. Daily Sabah reported the Israeli military provided no publicly available evidence. The Times of Israel reported the IDF took seven hours to comment as world media reported the strike. Hospitals lose their special protection under international humanitarian law only if used for military purposes under strict legal conditions. The doctors, patients and companions in the building had no say in how that dispute gets argued.

The Condemnation Circuit

Türkiye's Foreign Ministry strongly condemned the strike, citing more than 1,600 Palestinians killed "despite the ceasefire" and saying Israel "has once again demonstrated that it does not seek peace." Spain called it another serious violation of international humanitarian law and of the cease-fire agreement. UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini asked on X: "How can this still be called a cease-fire?" MSF said it was "utterly appalled and outraged," noting that Nasser Hospital has endured at least six airstrikes, repeated ground incursions, shelling and gunfire since October 2023. Hospital officials counted at least seven strikes on the complex, including a double-tap attack in August 2025 that killed at least 20 people, among them journalists and medical workers.

The US-led Board of Peace issued its own statement. It deplored the death of any civilians, condemned Hamas's "continued exploitation of hospitals," and described a cycle in which Hamas alleges deliberate Israeli attacks, Israel alleges Hamas exploits the facilities, and "innocent Gazans ultimately pay the price." It said it had developed a framework for medical care in secure, demilitarized facilities. Daily Sabah noted the board did not directly condemn the strike or provide evidence of military use of the hospital.

Who Gets Crushed

The UN's interim special coordinator, Ramiz Alakbarov, called for rapid, safe and unhindered humanitarian access, including durable shelter materials and winter supplies, warning that the latest operations were worsening suffering and jeopardizing the cease-fire. Winter supplies, in a territory where a hospital's surgical wing was just destroyed.

The day's other deaths barely registered. Two Palestinians were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a vehicle in Gaza City, which the IDF said targeted a Hamas member. One person was killed by Israeli gunfire in the Bureij refugee camp; the IDF did not comment. Thursday's reported toll reached at least nine.

The cease-fire took effect on Oct. 10, 2025, about thirteen months ago. Gaza authorities say Israeli violations since then have killed at least 1,622 Palestinians and wounded 5,878. Gaza's Health Ministry puts the war's toll at more than 74,600 killed and nearly 176,000 wounded. The Israeli Prime Minister's Office reiterated Tuesday that Hamas had yet to surrender a single weapon.

Three armed apparatuses, two statements of intent, one peace plan with a board, and a hospital with a hole in its second floor. The people inside it were counted by ministries, agencies and charities, each with its own tally.